SAN JOSE, CA – San Jose State University (SJSU) is pleased to announce a $500,000 gift commitment from Allied Telesis, Inc. to the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Strategic Initiatives Fund. The generous gift will establish a permanent endowment to provide long-term sustaining support to MTI’s cybersecurity program. Subject to approval by the Campus Naming Committee and the Academic Senate, the new program will be known as the Allied Telesis National Transportation Security Center.

Lucas College and Graduate School of Business Dean Dan Moshavi, center, signs a gift agreement with Allied Telesis. Photo: Nanzi Muro

The gift was formally announced Oct. 9 at a reception celebrating the opening of the Mineta Archives in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San Jose State University. Takayoshi Oshima, chairman and CEO of Allied Telesis, a long-time friend of MTI founder and former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, has served on the Board of the Mineta Transportation Institute since August 2018. He was recently elected advisor emeritus to the US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR.)

Oshima founded Allied Telesis more than 30 years ago. Allied Telesis has headquarters in Silicon Valley and Japan. The company provides hardware and software products that allow customers to build secure, feature-rich and scalable data exchange solutions. Allied Telesis works with many of the same agencies as MTI in the public transit sector, including the Valley Transportation Authority.

“We started talking about synergy in how we could work together to improve cybersecurity in transportation on a national level,” said Karen Philbrick, executive director of MTI. “Thanks to Allied Telesis’s commitment to a permanent endowment, we can expand our work in this critical area.”

Paul Lanning, vice president for University Advancement and CEO of the Tower Foundation, congratulated Philbrick and her team on cultivating a strong partnership with Oshima and Allied Telesis.

“Allied Telesis has provided a tremendous gift that will add value for years to come in the transit sector,” Lanning said. “We hope to continue to build on the success of the Mineta Transportation Institute with this and future industry partnerships.”

About the Mineta Transportation Institute

At the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University (SJSU) our mission is to increase mobility for all by improving the safety, efficiency, accessibility, and convenience of our nation’s’ transportation system through research, education, workforce development and technology transfer. We help create a connected world. MTI was founded in 1991 and is funded through the US Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, the California Department of Transportation, and public and private grants. MTI is affiliated with SJSU’s Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.

About San Jose State University

The founding campus of the 23-campus California State University system, San Jose State provides a comprehensive university education, granting bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 250 areas of study – offered through its eight colleges.

With more than 35,000 students and nearly 4,370 employees, San Jose State University continues to be an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley and the state, annually contributing 10,000 graduates to the workforce.

The university is immensely proud of the accomplishments of its more than 260,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom live and work in the Bay Area.

Downtown San Jose road work will result in better biking

To encourage pedal-powered transit downtown, San Jose roads are being ripped apart, repaired and repainted.

“We’re striving to make downtown San Jose the most bike-friendly downtown in the Bay Area,” said Jesse Quirion, a transportation specialist with the city.

That entails more than laying down the paint for bike lanes and buffer zones. The work is being done along with scheduled pavement maintenance. And the problems on some of the roads are more than just asphalt-deep, Quirion said.

“Some areas have what we call dig-outs,” he said. “Base failure. We need to repair the underground first and then do the overlay and slurry seal.”

Work is currently being done on Third Street, Fourth Street, 10th Street, 11th Street and Almaden Boulevard — all expected to be completed by mid to late July.

Some roads will have traditional bike lanes. Others will have additional room via painted buffer zones, and one stretch of Fourth Street will be physically separated from traffic by a 4-inch-high rubberized barrier where it runs alongside San Jose State University.

Existing traffic lanes on most of the affected arteries are being reduced to two lanes instead of three as part of a long-term plan to encourage people to get around without a car, Quirion said.

“Initially we may see some traffic impacts, but we hope it will be alleviated over time,” he said. “Hopefully people will make a shift to alternative transportation.”

Quirion said other bike projects are on tap to start later this summer, including a green-colored bike lane on San Fernando Street from Cahill Street to SJSU like the one on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Santa Clara as well as selected corridors in San Francisco.

“It makes it stand out, highlights it and notifies drivers that the bike lane is there,” Quirion said.

The city also is partnering with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to set up 20 bike share stations throughout downtown, where public bikes can be checked out with a credit card and returned to a different location.

Quirion said similar programs are proving popular in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a few locations in Miami.

San Jose’s bike share program will begin in September, Quirion said.

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.

On Bike to Work Day May 10, SJSU and the city of San Jose will sponsor an energizer station from 6:30 - 9:30 a.m. outside King Library.

One day each year, on a warm May morning, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition encourages commuters to leave their cars at home and join tens of thousands of their fellow Bay Area residents in biking to work. This year, Bike to Work Day falls on May 10.

The weather should be perfect, and the streets filled with cyclists, rolling up to energizer stations staffed by volunteers eager to pass out treats and encouragement. Bike to Work Day is a vision of what the morning commute should look like: parents and children, office workers, politicians, CEOs, all doing the unimaginable – enjoying their trips to work and school.

For all Spartans on wheels, SJSU and the city of San Jose will sponsor an energizer station beginning at 6:30 a.m. outside King Library at South Fourth and East San Fernando streets. An energizer station is a small booth set up along the roadways of major bicycle commuting routes that has food, goodies and good cheer to encourage cyclists. Every year, bicyclists who stop by these stations receive a free re-usable Bike to Work Day bag full of tips on safety and useful bicycling information.

The new boundaries for the Evening Guide Escort Program and Evening Shuttle include South 16th Street, Julian Street, First Street, and Interstate 280.

The Evening Guide Escort Program and Evening Shuttle provide a safe means of nighttime travel for campus community members who need to get to their nearby residences, workplaces, classrooms, study areas, cars, or public transportation stations.

The off-campus Evening Shuttle is only available to current SJSU faculty, staff, students with Tower Cards or on-campus employment identification, and it will operate Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., excluding holidays. Traditional on-campus Evening Guide services do not require ID.

The Evening Shuttle is limited to groups of three at a time and one single round-trip per rider/group per night. The Evening Shuttle does not provide transportation to and from alcohol related establishments, such as nightclubs, bars, or taverns, and visibly intoxicated individuals will not be allowed to ride.

Those wishing to receive an Evening Guide escort on or off campus must call the UPD directly at the Evening Guide Hotline at (408) 924-2000, or use a campus blue light phone. The Evening Shuttle will not stop for flag-downs.

Vashishtha Jogi, who recently graduated with a master's in computer engineering, won with "San Jose Transit."

By Pat Lopes Harris, Media Relations Director

In June, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority launched a contest challenging professional developers and hobbyists to create a mobile app to enhance the VTA travel experience. Members of the public submitted a variety of apps that are supported by Apple’s operating system, Google’s Android platform, or both. After carefully evaluating all contest submittals, “San Jose Transit” designed by Vashishtha Jogi was declared the winner! When asked why he entered the VTA contest, Jogi cited his interest in public transit and desire to make it easier for the public to navigate the system. “I love learning new technology, and this industry plays a huge role in my desired career path,” said Jogi. “I aspire to be someone who builds something useful for other people and not done by anybody else.” Jogi recently completed his master’s in software engineering at San Jose State in August. The app offers schedules for light rail, bus and train service. Read more.

Hangzhou, China, is often credited with hosting one of the world's largest bike share fleets. Soon, SJSU will join a similar effort funded by a Bay Area regional grant. The Bay Area program is expected to be in operation by the end of next summer (photo by Karin McKie).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

Bike sharing, a popular trend in Europe, will soon be making a paceline to SJSU. Associated Students’ President Tomasz Kolodziejak said the program, expected to be completed in September 2012, will add a sense of community to the city and campus.

“It will give students the freedom to explore the city if they don’t own a bicycle, if they don’t have enough room to store one, or don’t want to go through the trouble of maintaining one,” Kolodzejak said.

Eyedin Zonobi, manager of the A.S. Transportation Solutions office, said a bike share program would play well with the estimated 1,000 bicycles on campus per day each semester.

“Although we have six cages to accommodate parking for bikes, plus open racks in front of every building, parking for bikes is reaching its limits,” Zonobi said. “This program would alleviate some of the impact.”

Bike Share Grant

The project is being funded by a $4.29 million Metropolitan Transportation Commission grant to provide bicycles and kiosk stations to the cities of San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose. In addition, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will contribute matching funds, making this a $7 million project.

Features, depending on the vendor, may include modular bike stands, metal baskets, solar or electric locking and tracking technology, and GPS capabilities. Bikes will be inexpensive to rent and there will be different payment and membership options to chose from.